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The time at which plants flower is controlled by a complex web
of regulatory factors that integrate information about environmental
parameters such as daylength, temperature, photosynthesis and
many other factors. These controls have evolved to ensure that
plants initiate flower development at a time in the lifecycle
that will ensure optimal reproductive success under average
conditions in native habitats. In many cases, domesticated plants
are not grown under similar conditions to the habitats in which
they evolved and the regulatory mechanisms are not well suited to
the intended human use. Thus, for example, some types of flowers
are exposed to artificially altered daylengths in order to induce
them to flower in time for a special date such as Christmas or Easter.
Mendel has identified several key genes that regulate floral
induction and is using these genes to develop new ways to control
the flowering of economically important plants.
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